Tropical Storm Henry

A TROPICAL depression dumped heavy rains in the northern Philippines on Monday, prompting authorities to warn of possible landslides and floods in a region still reeling from two back-to-back storms. Tropical Depression Henry, packing winds of up to 55 kilometers (34 miles) per hour and gusts of 70 kph (43 mph), was expected to make landfall later Monday in northeastern Aurora province before crossing northern Luzon and intensifying over the South China Sea, forecasters said. About 17 provinces were placed under a storm alert and ships ordered to stay in ports. Authorities told residents living along river banks, steep mountain slopes and low-lying areas to watch out for flash floods and mudslides. Earlier in the day, floods stranded thousands of commuters in the province of Cavite, as traffic was at a standstill for at least 12 kilometers of the Emilio Aguinaldo Highway going to Metro Manila. Traffic was not moving from Talaba in Bacoor to Anabu-Coastal in Imus, near Dasmarinas, according to jeepney drivers plying these routes. Landslides left about 1,400 people dead in the same region two years ago, and in February, more than 1,000 were killed when a single village was buried in mud in the central Philippines. Read More Here Bicol Peninsula